lovers and friends
by munchkin88
Summary: ever wonder how it all happened between cedric and cho? would you believe that Cho actually didn't think much of the golden boy until he finally proved himself to be more than just that? : rr!
1. just friends

**Lovers and Friends **

**chapter one : just friends**

"Don't look now, Cho, but _you know who_ is staring at you…again!" Cindy Reynolds, one of Cho's good friend, squealed at her.

Cho winced as her friends went into a fit of giggles. It's not that she didn't _like_ Harry, but she just didn't really know him all that well. She briefly turned around and gave him a small smile, which shocked him so much that he accidentally dribbled some water down his front.

"He's going to burn a hole right through you if he keeps staring at you like that!" Cindy continued to giggle.

"I dunno. Looks like Cedric Diggory might be the one who burns the hole through Cho first," Justine Jones said as the girls' attention quickly shifted over towards the Hufflepuff table.

"Don't be stupid. He could have been starring at one of you girls, definitely _not_ me," Cho stated as she saw Cedric smirk cockily at her.

"Cho, stop being so damn modest!" Cindy joked as she winked at Cho. "SO! Who would you rather go out with: Cedric or Harry?"

"Harry, of course!" Padma Patil chimed in. "He's waaaay cuter!"

"Erm…" Cho said

"Are you mad? Cedric is so much better than that Potter loser, right Cho?" Marietta said in disgust. Now the girls' gave all their attention to Cho, waiting eagerly for her opinion of which boy was cuter.

"Er…I dunno. Doesn't Cedric seem a bit…_Golden Boy-ish_?" Cho finally said. Marietta's mouth dropped in defeat as Padma punched the air in triumph.

"I knew you fancied Harry!" Cindy squealed.

"If anyone acts like a Golden Boy, it's Potter! The way he gloats around like he owns the school," Marietta scowled as several girls gasped in disagreement.

"I don't fancy Potter! I don't even know the boy! And I'm sure he does not gloat. As for Cedric, he just seems…_too_ perfect. I mean he can any girl he wants, he has top marks on all his classes, he's a prefect, not to mention Quidditch Captain, and now he's one of Hogwart's Champion for the Triwizard tournament! How can someone be all that and still be a nice guy? Seems kind of fake if you ask me," Cho said exasperatedly.

"Wow, Cho," Cindy smirked. "Looks like someone's been keeping a close eye on Diggory, eh?" The girls all went into another fit of giggles.

"No! Urgh, let's stop talking about boys. Let's talk about Quidditch! Any of you ladies planning on trying out for the team?" Cho said, desperately trying to steer the conversation away from her. This failed as the girls said nothing in reply and stared at her in a odd way.

"Cho, could I have a word with you about…um…Quidditch?" A masculine voice came up from behind her and Cho, thankful for the distraction, gratefully followed Roger Davies out of the Great Hall while her friends giggled harder than ever.

"What'd you want to talk about, Captain?" Cho said cheerfully.

"Heh…" Roger laughed nervously as he started to fiddle with the sleeves of his robes. "It's just…you've been a really great friend to me for the last couple of years…and you know friendships…when they become as close as we have…the friendships usually blossoms into something….more…"

Cho's face tightened as she realized what Roger was going on about.

_Oh no! He's going to ask me to be his girlfriend! I can't do that! He's like my older brother. How am I going to escape this one?_ She thought

"…and so I was wondering…if maybe you'd…if you'd—" But Roger was cut off by another masculine voice.

"Cho! Roger! So nice to bump into you two," Cedric Diggory said gladly as he stepped into their conversation.

Cho gave Cedric a confused look as Cedric threw her a reassuring look as if knowing that she needed to be saved.

"Diggory," Roger said, annoyed. "We're kind of in the middle of something here."

"Ahh…yes, I see that but Madame Pince has just informed me that Cho has checked out a book of hers and in 10 minutes, it will be branded as late if Miss Chang doesn't return it right away or the consequences will be severe," Cedric finished with a dramatic tone.

"Um…" Roger stared at Cho for confirmation. Cho was still in awe at Cedric's clever lie until Cedric nudged at her side, hinting that she should say something.

"Uh…yeah…it must have completely slipped my mind," Cho said finally. "I should be going before Madame Pince gives me detention for a week. Can we talk about this some other time, Roger?"

"Yes, of course," Roger said as he glared at Cedric who smiled innocently at him.

Cho and Cedric headed off the opposite direction of Roger.

"Um…thanks for that…back there…" Cho said awkwardly as Cedric smiled his million dollar smile at her.

"No problem," Cedric replied, cheerfully. "I wouldn't want other blokes to be taking advantage of someone as pretty as you." Cho laughed at his extremely cheesy attempt to hit on her.

"Okay, that might work on some other girl, but keep in mind, I'm a Ravenclaw and I can see through you," Cho said cleverly as Cedric only smiled wider at her.

"Wow, I haven't yet mastered seeing through people. You must teach me how to do that sometime," Cedric joked. "Only joking!"

"You can't fool me with that whole nice boy front, you know. No one can be that perfect," Cho said as they reached the entrance of the Ravenclaw common room.

"So you think I'm perfect?" Cedric grinned as Cho rolled her eyes at him.

"Okay, I'm going to go now," Cho said as she turned to leave but Cedric quickly blocked her path.

"Okay, Cho. All jokes aside," Cedric started and Cho looked at him quizzically. "I just want to be your friend. Honest!"

Cho raised an eyebrow at him. "Just friends?" Cedric nodded at her. "I'll be keeping a close eye on your Mr. Diggory. Don't try anything funny." Cho smiled as she made her way through the door. Cedric skipped all the way back down to the Great Hall.

* * *

A/N: My first attempt on a Cho/Cedric story. I thought Cedric was just absolutely adorable in the Goblet of Fire and had to write something about him. x) I hope you guys like it. If not, I'll probably discontinue it. Reviews are appreciated x)

disclaimer: i don't own any harry potter stuff


	2. hormonal teenage wizard

**Lovers and Friends **

**chapter two : hormonal teenage wizard**

Cho Chang was silently flipping through the pages of her _Advanced Transfiguration_ book when an eerie feeling at the pit of her stomach told her that she was not the only one in the library late after curfew. Frowning, she glanced over her right shoulder, pausing and listening hard for any indication of another human being, ghost, or creature.

"What are you looking at?" came a deep voice, completely shattering the utter silence of the vacated library.

Cho instinctively whirled around her chair, wand at the ready, and was prepared to hex the person or thing in front of her to Jupiter.

"Whoa there…I promise you I don't bite," Cedric Diggory assured her with his hands up in the air as if he were surrendering to her. Cho let out a long breathe of relief as her heart started beating at normal speed again and the Goosebumps on her arms started to fade away.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were stalking me," Cho said suggestively, trying to be angry with him but failed miserably when he smiled his lopsided grin and ran a hand through his golden brown hair.

"I guess I'm not the only egotistical one around here then," Cedric teased as Cho raised an eyebrow to indicate her confusion. "I'm actually out here on Prefects duty." Cedric flashed Cho the small, shiny badge with a large P on it that was pinned neatly on his robes.

Cho's face immediately turned a fair shade of pink. "Oh…um…nevermind…sorry" Cho said awkwardly as she stared down at her thick, worn out book. She immediately looked up when Cedric's mock laughter reached her ears. "I'm so glad that you find my humiliation so amusing …"

"You know I can give you detention for saying that and for staying out waaay over curfew," Cedric threatened but smiled teasingly at her the whole time.

Cho leaned across the table so that she was face to face with Cedric and stared deep into his gray eyes. "Then do it."

Cedric swallowed the large lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. "Well…I…um…I guess…erm…" Cedric suddenly lost all his ability to speak properly and looked away from Cho's manipulating hazel eyes.

"I never knew you were so articulate," Cho giggled as she began to stuff her books back into her leather carrying bag.

"Fine. I'll let you get away with it this time but don't think I'll be so awesomely cool about it next time," Cedric, regaining his capability of speaking, said in a deep, authoritative voice. Cho choked back her laughter and just smiled reassuringly at him.

Cho opened the door of the library and exited quietly, hoping to not to run into another prefect. As she tip toed down the hall, she noticed that Cedric was following her a few feet away. She kept glancing back at him every so often, assuming that he would leave her at the next corner. Realizing that he was probably not going to leave her anytime soon, Cho stopped on her tracks and listened closely. Sure enough, the footsteps behind her had come to a halt as well. Cho did this two more times before turning around and stared questioningly at Cedric Diggory who just smiled innocently back at her.

"Why are you following me? And don't say you're not because I know you are," Cho said.

"I'm just making sure that a fine lady like yourself is returned safely back into her common room," Cedric replied innocently. "You never know what evil is lurking behind these walls." He added as they continued walking.

"Oh how lucky of me to have one of the strong Triwizard Champion to protect me from evil," Cho mocked but quickly refrained from laughing once she glanced at Cedric's suddenly solemn face. "Weird how Harry's name just came out of the goblet…wonder who put it in…"

"Yeah," Cedric said skeptically.

"He's a good guy. I don't think he put his name in," she said after sensing his doubtfulness. Cedric decided to break the seriousness of their conversation and broke out in a chuckle.

"Seems like someone fancies a certain Hogwarts Champion whose name _isn't_ Cedric," he said sardonically.

Cho rolled her hazel eyes at him. "You sound like Cindy," she said as they reached the front of Ravenclaw's common room. "Anyway, thanks for walking, or rather following, me back."

"It was my pleasure," He said. They both stood in silence for a bit until Cho spoke up.

"Cedric?"

"Hmm?" He said in a daze.

"No offense or anything, but I don't want a certain hormonal teenage wizard to be sneaking into the Ravenclaw common room on a count of me accidentally slipping the password at his presence, so could you…leave?" Cho smiled as Cedric laughed.

"Aw…you ruin the fun out of everything," he joked as he began to turn to leave. "Sweet dreams, Cho."

"Sweet dreams, Cedric."

----(---(---

"Ooh! Yes! Mail's finally here! My mum's supposed to be sending me some extra shopping money!" Marietta said eagerly as a swarm of owls corrupted the Great Hall.

"Oh! Look at that owl!" Cindy screeched and pointed at a large, chestnut owl soaring around the Great Hall as if it were more superior than the rest while clinging on to a bouquet of white roses. "It's coming this way!"

All eyes were now tracing this particular owl as it flew gracefully toward the Ravenclaw table.

_No! No! Go past me! Don't stop! No! You bloody bird…_

"Cho! They're for you!" Padma Patil clarified as if the owl dropping the roses in front of her was not obvious enough.

Cho tried to block out all the 'aw's' and 'ooh's' from the crowd around her as she hastily looked for a signature or card revealing the mysterious sender.

"Looking for this?" Justine smiled wickedly as she held up a white envelope addressed to Cho that she found near the roses. Cho made a horrible attempt to snatch the card away from Justine but failed miserably.

"Justine!" Cho said exasperatedly as she made another attempt at the card.

"Open it!" Cindy cried out as the girls around her giggled and gathered around Justine. Cho cursed the long tables that blocked her path to Justine. The only way she could get to Justine was if she climbed over or under the table or if she ran all the way around it.

"'_A dozen times more beautiful than a dozen white roses,'_" Justine began in a sing-song voice as Cho started to panic. "'_Now can I have the password to the Ravenclaw common room? Love, a hormonal teenage wizard. P.S. Only joking about the last part.'_ Cho! Who is this hormonal teenage wizard sending you love notes!"

"And what are you doing giving out our password? You little hussie," Cindy teased as the girls began to talk excitedly about the note. Cho watched the girls, horrified at what they would think.

_No! What am I going to do? Wait a second…I'm a witch, which means I have a wand, which means I can get my letter back! Duh…_

"_Accio Letter!_" Cho said sternly as the letter flew out of Justine's hands and returned safely into her possession.

"Cho! Tell us who it's from!" The girls eagerly chimed, waiting for an answer. Cho couldn't help but smile as her eyes wandered over the Hufflepuff table at a certain _hormonal teenage wizard_.

"Oh! Vat eez that boys name!" a heavily French accent interrupted their one way conversation. All their attention was now drawn to the Beauxbaton champion, Fleur Delacour who was grinning seductively over toward the Hufflepuff table.

"Which boy?" Padma asked as she followed Fleur's eyes to the next table over.

"Zat one!" Fleur pointed at the handsome face of Cedric Diggory who was laughing at a joke his friends just told him. "Ee eez so handsome! Ever since ve met at ze Triwizard meeting, I could not stop zeeinking about him."

"And yet you don't remember his name," Cho said bitterly. She suddenly found her accent incredibly annoying and wanted to tell her off for it. Fleur, however, did not catch Cho's sour attitude and continued to gaze dreamily at Cedric.

"That's Cedric Diggory!" Padma answered for her. Fleur's mouth curved seductively as the boys around her all of a sudden began to take more notice of her.

"I vill be right back," Fleur said as she made her way toward the Hufflepuff table, leaving a trail of drooling boys on the way.

Cho was mentally sending daggers at Fleur as she watched her turn on her Veela charm at Cedric. She watched as Fleur flipped her shiny, silvery blonde hair several times. She watched the way Cedric gave Fleur his full attention and had that goofy lopsided grin plastered on his face. Cho then mentally sent daggers his way too.

_Wait a minute, why do I care so much anyway? You don't like him, remember? _

Cho looked at the bouquet of white roses before her and suddenly felt empty.

"Um, I'm going to go back to the common room. I suddenly don't feel too well," Cho said as she got up to leave.

"Aw! But Cho, you didn't tell us who this mysterious guy is!" Cindy whined as Cho forced a smile.

"It's not important. I'll see you girls later," Cho gave one more glance at Cedric and Fleur before turning away and exiting the Great Hall.

* * *

A/N: Aw, thank you to my reviewers. I wrote this chapter in a bit of a hurry. I stole that "dozen rose" line from _How to Lose a Guy in 10 days_ (except he used 100 instead of dozen) because i suck with those love note type thingys. x) Reviews are appreciated x)

disclaimer: i don't own Cedric Diggory...sadly. :( Or any of the other Harry Potter characters/settings.


	3. the first task

**Lovers and Friends**

**chapter 3 : the first task **

"Cho! Over here!" Marietta shouted while waving her arms in the air frantically.

"Sorry," Cho muttered to the people in the stands grunting and groaning as she made her way past them toward her friends. "Great seats."

"I know! Fred and George were taking up bets just a second ago. I bet that Harry was going to crumble first and that Cedric would come out with the lead," Marietta answered excitedly.

Cho rolled her eyes at her friend. What Marietta had against Harry, she would never know.

"And speaking of Cedric, he is looking mighty fine today," Justine added as she turned the knobs of her omnoculars to get a better look of Cedric through the tent.

"Oh for heavens sake. I don't know why everyone makes such a big fuss about Cedric. Harry deserves just as much attention as Cedric does," Cho instantly bit her tongue as Cindy smirked at her.

"Whatever Cho, I'm only giving you a week's hold on him. After that, he's fair game," Justine said, not taking her eyes off of him.

"He's fair game right now," Cho replied coolly.

Justine opened her mouth to reply back but the sound of the canon signaled the start of the first task.

"OHMYGOSH! Cedric's first!" Cindy squealed as the crowd around them stood up and cheered.

Cho, still sitting, was probably the only one to notice Cedric's tense state. The confident, adventurous Cedric Diggory that she was so used to seeing strutting down the halls was now nervous and afraid, a side that she has never seen of him. Cedric licked his dry lips and breathed in loudly while beads of sweat trickled down his face. With every step he took closer to the golden egg, Cho's heart skipped a beat and felt as if she was the one out there facing the dragon. Her tiny hands were now wringing Marietta's betting receipt as she watched on nervously with the rest of the crowd.

As she watched Cedric take dangerous routes toward the dragon, dodging quickly to avoid getting whip-lashed by its tail, she had to bite her bottom lip down to prevent herself from screaming at the top of her lungs because why would Cho Chang, nice, quiet Ravenclaw be freaking out over one of Hogwart's champions?

After what seemed like hours to Cho, Cedric had finally captured the golden egg. She was able to breathe again.

"Cho! I needed that!" Marietta scolded her as she noticed the tiny flakes of white paper scattered on the ground.

"Oh, sorry…erm…nervous habit. _Reparo,_" Cho blushed.

As soon as the all the contestants had succeeded in capturing their egg, Cho raced to the Hospital Wing to make sure Cedric was ok. He did look a bit peaky after he got burned by the Dragon.

Without thinking, Cho pushed open the cold, wooden doors that lead to the infirmary. The room was crowded with family and friends, most of them were unfamiliar to her but she didn't care at the moment. She was here for only one reason.

"Looking for me?"

Cho whipped around and saw Cedric. The right side of his cheek was covered in some sort of goop that made him look ridiculous, but he still managed to smile handsomely at her.

"Um…" Cho hadn't thought of what to say. She was so worried about him that she completely forgot that she wasn't supposed to care. "Actually, I was just…erm…checking up on Viktor Krum. You know, being the star Seeker for Bulgaria and everything…He looks all better now! Bye!"

"Cho," Cedric said before she could leave. "Even though you didn't come here to visit me, you think you could stay for a while anyway?"

"Oh…no…I don't think that's such a good id—"

"Oh Miss Chang! Thank goodness you are here!" Madam Promfry said timidly as she spotted Cho. "It's hectic around here! Can you do me a favor and tend to Mr. Diggory while I check up on Mr. Potter?"

"I…but—"

"All you have to do is dab this on all of his cuts," she quickly shoved a bottle of ointment into Cho's hand and ran off to tend to Harry who was surrounded by his new supporters.

"Um…Ok. This shouldn't be too bad," Cho said as she eyed the dark red blotch that was seeping through his shirt. She grabbed the nearby scissors and attempted to cut the sleeve of his shirt but Cedric quickly pulled away.

"Hey! What are you doing?" He said quickly as Cho grew infuriated with him.

"I'm going to need to cut your shirt so I could clean your cuts, Cedric! Quit being a baby!"

"But I can just take off my shirt—"

"No thank you," Cho said loudly, finally overpowering him as she swiftly cut through the arm of Cedric's shirt. She cringed as she saw the deep cut that found a home on his arm. She dabbed the ointment and was preparing to place it on his muscular arm.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. OW!"

"I haven't even touched you yet!"

"I know…I'm just practicing"

"Good, you're going to need it. This is a really deep cut" She covered the ointment absorbed towel on Cedric's arm. Cedric bit his bottom lip and sighed heavily.

"Um…good job today. You did really well," Cho finally said after a moment of awkward silence. Cedric smirked and turned his attention back at the ground.

"Yeah…but I heard Harry was brilliant with the broom and everything…" Cho sensed a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing," Cho laughed nervously.

"No! Of course not," Cedric said reassuringly. "It's just…I always find myself against this guy and my father is always pressuring me to be better than him after he heard about that last Quidditch game. I mean, that was all out of luck! Harry could have easily beaten me if it hadn't been for those Dementors. Now everyone is expecting me to crush him in the Triwizard tournament but I don't think I can. I mean, he's _the_ Harry Potter. It just seems like I'm always at a competition with him. And the fact that I heard he fancies you—"

"What? That's ridiculous…Harry does _not_ fancy me," Cho said frustratedly as she repaired his shirt. Cedric kept silent. "What does that have to do with you and Harry anyway?"

"Er…nothing…I was just saying…" Cedric's cheeks were now a faint shade of red.

"Whatever. Just do what _you_ want to do. For _yourself_. Not for your dad, not for your friends…just do this for you," Cho smiled as she patted his detangled hair. "I'll see you later."

------------------------

"Oh! This is going to be _so_ much fun!" Cindy shrieked as Cho entered the Great Hall for dinner.

"What's going to be so much fun?" Cho asked as she piled up her plate with food.

"The Yule Ball, of course!" Cindy answered excitedly.

"Come again?" By the way the girls giggled and whispered in each others ears, Cho felt like everyone was in on a secret that she didn't know about.

"The _Yule Ball_! It's a dance! AND you get to bring dates! It would be a dream come true if Harry asked me…" Padma Patil swooned as the rest of the girls giggled again.

"Brandon Shaw for me! He is absolutely gorgeous enough to eat!"

"I dunno, Justin Flinch Fletchy is looking pretty cute this year"

"What about you, Cho? Who do you want to go with?"

"Oooh…I dunno. I don't really have anyone in mind," But Cho _did_ have someone in mind and as much as it irked her, she just couldn't stop thinking about him.

* * *

A/N: chapter 3 up. thanks to my reviewers x)  
x3 heidi 

disclaimer: i don't own Cedric Diggory...sadly. :( Or any of the other Harry Potter characters/settings.


	4. macaroni and cheese

**Lover and Friends**

**chapter 4 : macaroni and cheese **

Cho stomped grumpily into the isolated corridors of Hogwarts, leaving a trail of muddy footprints behind her. She tried to tame her dangly, damp hair but soon gave up and tied it into a messy bun instead.

'_Erg! Roger is so getting the cold shoulder tomorrow! What was he thinking! Making us practice for **hours** in the **pouring** **rain**! And we just had to miss dinner because he'd rather see us starve to death than lose a bloody Quidditch match!'_ Cho's stomps became heavier and more audible at the thought of her insane captain's determination to kill his team. And now she was left alone; cold, bitter and hungry.

She stopped on her tracks. She knew that the kitchen was just a tickle away, but was she really going to risk getting caught and possibly detention just because she was starving?

'_Yes_.'

Once she entered the kitchen, she was quickly overwhelmed by over a dozen house elves stopping on their tracks, staring at her for exactly 2.5 seconds before hiding themselves behind various kitchen utensils.

"Um…" Cho started uneasily. She didn't want to scare them in case one of them decided to snitch on her. "I was just…um…I was just wondering if I could borrow some stuff to make myself some food?"

"We can make food for little Miss, we can!" One of the house elves squeaked excitedly at her as he tugged the edge of her wet sweater.

"Oh, no! That's not necessary. I can make my own food. I'll just need a couple of things…" The house elves smiled eagerly at her.

* * *

Once Cho finished cooking her Mac and Cheese, she told the House Elves that she'd rather eat in her room so she could also finish up some late homework. She thanked them for their hospitality and continued on her way to the Ravenclaw common room, still stirring her Mac and Cheese so that it'll be perfect by the time she ate it. 

Cho smiled to herself as the Ravenclaw portrait (? **A/N:** Not sure if it's a portrait or yeah…lol) became nearer and nearer. She was going to get away with it. Yay for her.

"A-ha!"

Cho shut her eyes. _'Damn, I knew it was too good to be true_'

"Sneaking around the corridors late after curfew _again_Miss. Chang?"

Cho opened her eyes. _'I know that voice…'_

Cho stared hard at the ground as Cedric rounded around her; his left hand grazing his chin as he searched her up and down.

"A-ha! Just as I had suspected…smuggling macaroni and cheese. Cho, how could you?" Cho smacked his shoulder with her free hand as he began to laugh at her.

"You're such a prat," she snarled. She was hungry, tired, cold, and definitely not in the mood to be teased by an arrogant Prefect.

" Oh c'mon, Cho. Lighten up," He said as he patted her back. "So, tell me exactly what you're doing with that large bowl of Mac and Cheese." Cedric conjured up a note pad and pen and pretended to be a detective waiting to take notes.

"_Cedric!_" Cho whined. She was so close to ripping his eyeballs out.

"Alright, alright! I'm kidding…just don't take it out on the macaroni…"

"What?"

"I mean, if you want to stir it to death then you're doing a good job…but…," Cedric pointed out.

"Oh! I completely forgot. Here, try this for me," She gave him a spoonful of Mac and Cheese for him to try out.

"Mm…too much cheese and not enough mac," Cedric finally said. Cho smiled triumphantly at him.

"Perfect."

"So I guess you really, _really_, like cheese, huh?"

"Nope. I just figured that if I eat a lot of cheese, I'll get extremely fat, will probably suck at Quidditch for the rest of my life, and really piss off Roger."

"Aw…that's just horrible," Cedric said "But I guess if it eliminates some competition, then by all means, eat your cheese infested macaroni." Cho rolled her eyes at him and actually almost smiled for the first time that evening. "Damn, I thought I almost got you to smile."

Cho showed all her teeth, squinted her eyes and stretched her face to give him the most unattractive smile she could muster up. His priceless expression quickly made her falter as she fell into a fit of giggles.

"Ahh…there's that famous Chang smile," Cedric flirted, but then became more serious. "No, seriously now. This is your second time being caught after curfew. I'm afraid I have to give you detention."

Cho's expression fell. "Cedric…you're joking, right?" His solemn face told her that he wasn't. "Can't we just…forget about the detention? How about I give you some of my _deliciously_ cheesy Mac and Cheese and you forget about the detention?" Cho smiled hopefully.

"As…tempting as that sounds, I really—" Cedric began but Cho began poking at her Mac and Cheese with her spoon, which made a really unattractive squishy sound. "Fiinne. You got me with that whole…squishing thing." He smiled.

* * *

(**A/N: **I took SOME—not all—lines from the T.V show, One Tree Hill because I thought it was really cute. : )

"This is really bad Mac and Cheese. I never thought I'd see the day that the House Elves would actually cook something I wouldn't eat." Cedric said as he hesitantly swallowed another bite of his food.

Cho laughed. "Actually…um…I made it. I was really not in a happy mood so I probably ended up putting some random things into the pot."

"Oh, well that explains the fishy taste," he teased as Cho playfully rolled her eyes. "I didn't know you knew how to cook…or not cook…"

"Well, I can't really. This is all I know how to make. I asked my House Elf to teach me when I was about 7 and after I learned my first dish, my parent's forbade it to teach me to cook anymore because I was 'higher' than that."

"Oh…well, too bad the house elf couldn't teach you how to make steak," Cedric sighed.

"Shut up. Macaroni and Cheese is food of the Gods," she retorted.

"Yeah…if the Gods are 5 year olds," he laughed.

After they finished eating their food, Cho finally got up.

"Anyway, I better get back to my common room before my friends send off a search and rescue squad to look for me," She smiled. "You probably have to get back to your shift anyway, right?"

"Actually…I don't have a shift tonight. I just saw you looked really gloomy and decided to cheer you up," He confessed as they both started walking back down the corridors.

"What! You mean you made me share my macaroni and cheese with you for nothing?"

"Trust me…I regret it too."

"You're such a prat," She shook her head at him. "So—" She was abruptly cut off when a dash of silvery blonde hair came gliding down their way and dramatically flinging herself onto Cedric.

"Oh Zedric! I vas so scared! I vas vondering around ze corridors and ze next zing I knew, I vas lost!" Fleur Delacour cried out. Cedric looked up at Cho, not knowing what to do with the "frightened" girl on his shoulder.

Cho looked sympathetically up at Cedric. "The Beauxbaton's carriage is just outside the entrance hall which is a little further down, turn left, go down a bit more until you pass the Great Hall and another right towards the giant doors where you're massive carriages can't really be unnoticed." Cedric smiled gratefully at her while Fleur just scowled.

"Oh…vell…actually…I uh…I zeem to 'ave left my belongings down in ze Great Hall and I am terribly frightened to go down zere by myself so…Zedric…vould you accompany little, 'elpless, me?" Fleur seemed to have turned on her Veela charm, for Cho instantly saw Cedric gaze adoringly down at her petite frame. Cho felt a pang of jealously hit her once Cedric smiled his million dollar smile and nodded like a little boy ready to savor his candy.

Cho coughed rather loudly, snapping Cedric out of his little veela-trance and causing Fleur to glower at her.

"Oh, um…actually I think I was supposed to walk Cho back to her common room, so—"

"No, that's alright Cedric. Why don't you walk _poor, 'elpless_, Fleur down to the Great Hall. I'll see you two later," Her false smile planted on her face.

Cedric looked at her skeptically. "But—"

"Come, Zedric! Ve should 'urry if ve do not vish to get caught," Fleur giggled as she dragged Cedric down the corridors. Cedric took one glance at Cho who was secretly hoping they would hit an invisible brick wall and Fleur's perfect face would smash, as would Cedric's.

As soon as they were no longer visible, Cho started walking back to the common room. She had a nice, normal walk back, if you would consider arguing with your thoughts, normal.

_You really shouldn't be angry with him. I mean, you were the one that sent him away!_

**Yeah, but he didn't have to AGREE with it! He was the one oogling at her the whole time anyway.**

_He didn't technically agree with it; whats-her-face sort of dragged him away. You're just angry because you like him and secretly wishes that he'd ask you to the Yule Ball_

**No, I don't!**

_Yes, you do!_

**No!**

_Yes!_

**NO!**

_YES_

"Stop it!" She suddenly screamed out once she entered her dorm room, accidentally waking up some of her friends.

"Ch- yawn -o? Are you -yawn-okay?" Marietta said, half-awake.

"Yeah…sorry. Go back to bed," Cho said as Marietta's snores became audible once again.

* * *

Cho woke up the next morning still a bit bitter about yesterday's happenings and still trying to convince herself that she was not jealous that Cedric liked Fleur.

"Morning, Chooo-y, Cho, Cho!" Cindy greeted her in a sing-song voice. Cho laughed at her friend's hyper behavior.

"Morning, Cind."

"Ready for breakfast? I'm starved!"

"I'm actually not that hungry, but I'll go down with you anyway."

Once the girls entered the crowded Great Hall, Cho's face immediately fell as she saw Cedric Diggory chatting up Marietta and some of her other friends at the Ravenclaw table.

"Hey Cedric!" Cindy said ecstatically.

"Hey Cindy, Hey Cho," Cedric replied. Cindy giggled uncontrollably as Cho didn't even look at Cedric but took a seat away from him instead. Cedric moved down to sit next to her.

"Morning, Cho!" Cedric said cheerfully while Cho tried her best to ignore him.

"Cedric, why aren't you eating?" Cindy asked him.

"Well, I'm still trying to digest the 10 gallons of cheese I consumed last night," Cedric said, trying to get a laugh out of Cho. Cho didn't laugh but continued to pile food onto her plate that she was not planning to eat. "C'mon Cho, it was a joke. You're supposed to laugh."

"It's not a really good joke then," She finally said. "Why aren't you at your table?"

"You seemed upset yesterday, just wanted to check up on you," Cedric smiled at her, hoping that she would return it. "C'mon Cho, you're acting childish."

"_I'm_ acting childish?" She said. _'okay, so what if I am?'_ "If I'm so childish, why don't you hang out with your more mature friends?"

"Mature friends?" Cedric said in confusion but it suddenly hit him. "Oh I see where this is going…" Cedric chuckled. "You're jealous."

Cho scoffed. "No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are." Cedric's smile broadened as Cho glared at him harder. "You're scared that I'd like Fleur more than I like you."

'_I like you? He likes me! Wait…no…he probably means friend-wise. Damn.'_

Cho was just about to respond when that annoyingly angelic French voice fluttered in on their conversation.

"Oh Zedric!"

Cedric shut his eyes as Cho aborted her attention to the oatmeal in front of her.

"Hey Fleur," Cedric said unenthusiastically.

"Yezterday vas so much fun, vasn't it?"

"Oh yeah. Tons."

Cho tried to block out their conversation as she stared at the person in front of her. She wanted to burst out laughing at the sight in front of her; Roger Davis was pulling off his cloak and flexing his nonexistent arm muscle, hoping to grab Fleur's attention.

'_She must have turned on that Veela thing again…_' Cho thought sadly.

"So, Zedric," Fleur continued, ignoring the various males all of a sudden crowding her. "Ze Yule Ball…it should be a lot of fun, no? Do you know 'oo you are planning on taking?"

The subject of Cedric and the Yule Ball quickly grabbed Cho's attention. She turned her head to face Cedric and to her surprise, he wasn't gawking at Fleur like the rest of the blokes around her were. Instead, Cedric was staring intently into Cho's eyes, smiling.

"Actually, I do have someone in mind I'm thinking of asking…" Cedric replied, not taking his eyes off of Cho. Cho couldn't help but blush and smile. She was so surprised that Cedric had not been captured by that bloody charm that she almost jumped at him and gave him the biggest hug he'd have ever experienced.

But of course, she didn't :)

* * *

**A/N:** Whoa...so it's been almost 2 months since i last updated. Sorry! I guess i never really had time. Anywhoo..i hoped you liked this chapter! Kind of different i guess you could say. And to those Fleur/Cedric shippers, i didn't mean to bash on Fleur as much as i did. I didn't mean to make her the antagonist of the story...it just sort of happened? But i have nothing against her and i'm sure she's a lovely person if she were real:) heh. Well, i hope you enjoyed the chapter and i hope you'll be awesome people and review it! Thanks x) 

x3 heidi

**Disclaimer: **i don't own any harry potter stuffers... :(


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